I Canceled Seven Hundred Dollars After Christmas Night Left My Daughter Alone in the Dark

Vance asked.

“Every month for twenty-four months, nine hundred forty dollars left my personal account,” I said.

“It went straight to paying the mortgage on my mother Margaret’s house on Elm Street.”

“Clara,” Brenda said gently, “we’re here to talk about Lucy’s welfare.”

“Turn to page seven,” I said.

Brenda flipped the heavy plastic cover.

“On December twenty-fifth, I canceled the recurring nine-hundred-forty-dollar automatic payment,” I said.

“An eighty-two-dollar electric bill transfer was canceled that same morning.”